Share this with

If Labour was hoping to come out of its current crisis stronger, more united and ready to win back huge swathes of the public following the General Election, the current leadership contest may raise some eyebrows.

Not only are all five of the candidates white, they’re all Oxbridge-educated too.

In fact, bar one, they all have a pretty similar haircut.

That’s not to say their education is a bad thing. But for a party desperate not only to show it’s still in touch with the working people of the UK but that it’s representative of Britain as a whole, it might be seen that way.

A quick perusal of Twitter would confirm that.

All #Labour leadership contenders went to #Oxbridge. A remote elite perpetuates its remoteness. Party of the #working family? I think not!!

MP for Leigh and shadow health secretary since 2011. Read English at Cambridge. Born and raised in Liverpool, he’ll hope to reconnect Labour with its voters in the north. Believes the party has lost its ’emotional connection’ with the electorate. Wants Labour to stand for the middle-class as well as the working people.

MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford. Read PPE at Oxford. Appointed shadow home secretary in 2011. By far the most experienced of the candidates, she was elected during Blair’s 1997 landslide win. Hopes to ‘drown out the fear and anxiety’ she believes has been created by Ukip and offer voters a ‘bolder vision’ of the future. Married to Ed Balls. Ed Balls.

Liz Kendall is more Blairite in her outlook than the other candidates (Picture: Getty Images)

Liz ‘Pro-Biz’ Kendall

MP for Leicester West. Read History at Cambridge. Has served as shadow minister for care and older people. Pro-business and has criticised support of high taxation, saying that ‘just making a point’ is not a good enough reason. Favours a referendum on the EU and has said the previous Labour government should have ‘reined in spending’ before the recession.

MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central. Read History at Cambridge. A former historian and television presenter before entering Parliament. May be popular with those who don’t trust career politicians. Appointed shadow education secretary in 2013. Critical of Conservative education policies and the ‘politics of nationalism’ he perceives Ukip and the SNP to be promoting.

MP for Wakefield. Read Languages at Oxford. Has served as shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs and has held the shadow transport brief. Has argued for economic policy reform and believes the party must reach out to ‘Middle England’.